Have a Yule That's Cool
by flamingphoenixfire
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy isn't looking forward to the Yule ball, but he's about to get a pleasant surprise.  ScorpiusLily


Scorpius Malfoy sat on the edge of his four poster bed his head in his hands. The darkness of the Slytherin dungeons swallowed his every feature except his platinum hair. As he contemplated his highly polished shoes, he heard the sound someone walk into the room.

"Hey Malfoy!"

It was one of his dorm mates, Brent Zabini. Scorpius lifted his head to look into the black boy's dark eyes.

"There's a girl outside, wants a word."

"What?"

Zabini's laughter seemed to fill up the room. "Better hurry before she gets away," and he continued to chuckle as he walked out the door.

_What could a girl want with me?_ He thought. Pretty much every inhabitant of Hogwarts avoided him as though he had Spattergroit. In fact, he had been contemplating insulting one of Hagrid's hippogriffs just to get the miserable experience of his life over with before Zabini had interrupted.

He stood slowly, curiosity getting the better of him. He made his way out of his room, past several of his housemates lounging in the common room, and out into the dimly lit corridor. She stood in the shadows across from him but moved toward him immediately.

"Hi."

"Er…hi."

He felt his face grow hot. She smiled and some of the uneasiness he felt melted away. She seemed to be nervous judging from the way she kept twisting the ring on her finger. He wondered if this was some sort of prank. Perhaps her brothers put her up to humiliating him somehow.

"Would you mind walking with me a bit?"

He couldn't see any immediate threat so he agreed. They walked down the hall towards brighter parts of the castle. Occasionally he would look over to catch her staring at him as though about to speak, but each time she turned away and continued on.

She led him out of the castle onto the sunlit grounds where some students were using their brief respite before winter holidays to enjoy the unusually mild winter weather. As she turned in the direction of the lake, he wondered if she planned to push him into it. It wouldn't be the first time he had met the giant squid thusly. He thought briefly of turning around and returning to his silent vigil; the small bit of optimism buried deep in his soul refused to let him, however, so he continued to follow in her wake come what may.

She turned from the lake and instead led him to an old tree and dropped to the ground. He stood uncomfortably watching her.

"Sit down." She smiled and indicated the bare patch of earth beside her. Not seeing any way of avoiding dirtying his robes aside from flat out refusal to do as she asked, he sat in the indicated place. They sat there for what seemed like hours staring off across the lake until he could bear the silence no longer.

"So…um…you wanted to talk to me?"

Her cheeks reddened to match her hair. "Yes. I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes?"

She twirled a piece of her hair around her finger. "They're having the Yule Ball this year, have you heard?"

"Yeah."

She shifted her position to face him. "Well, I was wondering if…um…you would like to go with me?"

He stared at her in disbelief. She hadn't yet raised her eyes from her lap.

"You want _me_ to take you to the Yule Ball?"

She looked up and he felt a jolt as her eyes met his. "Well…yes."

"Why?"

She shifted again. "Well, I hoped it would give me a chance to get to know you better."

"Why do you want to know me?"

She started playing with the end of her scarf not meeting his eyes again. "Well…" Her voice was barely a whisper. "I fancy you."

He thought he must be dreaming. Could he have heard her right? Surely not!

"You what?"

This time she looked up again and he felt another jolt.

"I said I fancy you."

There could be no mistaking it. He felt an odd warmth swell in his chest at her words. He tried desperately to think of a response, but his brain seemed to have gone out to lunch.

"So?" Her gaze melted him. "Would you like to?"

He finally managed to unglue his tongue from the roof of his mouth.

"Er…yeah." At her crestfallen expression he amended, "I mean, I'd love to."

He attempted a smile. If felt foreign on his lips, but pleasant all the same. Her face brightened again and she jumped up from the ground.

"Great!" He struggled to his feet. "Hey, would you mind if I called you Scor?"

This time the smile didn't take near as much effort.

"Not at all."

"Alright then. See ya, Scor."

He grinned as she skipped away.

"See ya, Lily."


End file.
